


Whispering

by MapleHere



Series: EdWin Oneshots [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 04:55:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16257098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MapleHere/pseuds/MapleHere
Summary: Edward and Winry have known each other for many, many years, and each of them has something they need to get off their chests.  Edward just so happens to know the best way to do so.





	Whispering

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a bit of a challenge piece: "Turn the prompt, 'Listen closely to the whispering,' into something cute rather than something creepy. I hope you enjoy!

Edward grabbed Winry’s hand and led her away from the crowd and down a steep slope, holding a paper boat like the ones that had already been placed in the dry lakebed.

“Ed, what  _ is _ this?” she asked, looking down at her feet and gripping her own boat tightly to keep it from being ripped away by the wind.  She shivered as a gust of cold air worked its way up the bottom of her coat, sapping heat from her bit by bit.

“Quiet, Winry,” he said softly, glancing back to her with a grin.  “Listen closely,” he breathed, “to the whispering.”  He stopped and pulled her around in front of him as he knelt on the frozen mud.

She followed suit and took in their surroundings, realizing that there were others in the lakebed as well.  She calmed her breathing and watched a few of the strangers, noting the puffs of white that escaped each of their mouths.  The wind whipped her hair around her face, drawing fragments of each of their voices toward her and beyond. “Are they...praying?” she asked softly, turning back to him with her eyebrows furrowed.

He shook his head and placed his boat down between them before gesturing for Winry to do the same.  “They’re apologizing.”  He looked at her, his ever-present grin still in place, though there was something deeper in his eyes.  “Every year,” he began, “this village holds a festival dedicated to forgiveness. You make one of these little boats and come out here and leave it in the middle of the lakebed, and then you apologize.  You apologize for the really stupid things, or the really heavy things, or for anything in between, and then when the first rain comes, your boat floats away.

“Or, at least, in theory.”

Winry eyed her new husband suspiciously as she placed her (slightly crumpled) boat next to his.  “Okay, so…?”

“So when your boat floats away your apologies do too.  You don’t have to worry about them anymore.”

She pondered this for a moment before nodding and tucking her hair behind her ear.  “Alright, I get it.”  She grabbed a rock nearby to hold her boat in place, as the wind kept trying to steal it from her, but Edward placed a hand on her wrist.

“No, it won’t float if you do that.”

She looked at him, then back to her boat.  “But the wind--”

“It doesn’t matter.  The point is to let things go, not to pin them down.”

She nodded slowly and tossed the pebble a few feet away.  “Okay, so...what do you apologize for?”

“Anything.”

She pondered this for a moment as she looked at the folded boats between them.  “Okay...I’m sorry...I charged you so much for that trip to Central when your arm stopped working.  It was my fault; I left out one of the screws, and--”

Ed placed a hand on the side of her face and smiled at her when she met his gaze, nodding a little.  “It’s okay.”

She smiled back and nodded again.  “I’m sorry I left your toothbrush on the train.”

Ed chuckled and looked up at the sky for a moment before meeting her eyes again.  “I’m sorry I always teased you about liking automail.”

“I’m sorry I called you short all the time,” Winry rushed with a grin.

“I’m sorry I never stayed in touch,” Ed responded.

“I’m sorry I shoved you into the river at our wedding,” she giggled

“I’m sorry I pulled you in,” he laughed softly.

“I’m sorry I made us miss our train the next day.”

“I’m sorry I...I’m sorry I left right after I asked you to marry me.”

Winry’s breath caught as her next apology evaporated.  She kissed him softly and rested her forehead against his when she pulled away.  “I’m sorry I made you schedule an appointment.”

He chuckled softly and closed his eyes with a soft hum.  “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize how amazing you are.”

Winry’s cheeks, already flushed from the cold, grew even redder at this.  “I’m...I’m s...I’m sorry I...I’m sorry that I can’t think of anything to apologize for right now.”

Edward chuckled as their boats blew away in the wind.  “I’m not."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to visit my tumblr at hopped-up-on-maple-syrup.tumblr.com, and my writing blog is maples-pages.tumblr.com! Please feel free to leave a comment; they keep me writing!


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